Rostov 4 reactor vessel installed

The reactor pressure vessel has been installed at unit 4 of the Rostov nuclear power plant in Russia. The unit is expected to start operations in 2017.

The vessel is lowered into the unit's reactor compartment (Image: Rosatom)

The 320-tonne vessel was manufactured by OMZ subsidiary Izhorskiye Zavody and was shipped via the River Neva to the construction site in May. It was due to arrive in June and has since been held in storage at the site.

Rosatom announced on 30 November that the reactor pressure vessel had been loaded onto a special railway transportation trolley and moved into unit 4's transport gateway. The unit's polar crane was then used to raise the vessel into the central hall of the reactor building and lower it onto a support ring in the reactor compartment.

Director of the Rostov plant Andrey Salnikov said, "Installation of the reactor pressure vessel means that the overall construction work is finished and installation now begins of the main equipment." He said that installation of the unit's four steam generators would be completed by the end of this year, with installation of the main circulation pipework set to begin in January.

The Rostov plant is located on the banks of the Tsimlyansk reservoir, nearly 14 km (8 miles) from the city of Volgodonsk. Four 1000 MWe VVER pressurized water reactors have been planned at the Rostov site (formerly known as Volgodonsk) since the early 1980s. Construction of units 1 and 2 began promptly, but progress faltered. Units 1 and 2 eventually entered commercial operation in March 2001 and October 2010, respectively.

In June 2009, NN-AEP, a subsidiary of AtomEnergoProm, won the tender as principal contractor for the construction of units 3 and 4, now slightly larger at 1100 MWe. Unit 3 began commercial operation in September.